How Should We Respond to Calamity in the News?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Welcome to a new week on the Ask Pastor John podcast
00:00:08.260 | with John Piper.
00:00:10.000 | Pastor John, you were in Vancouver recently
00:00:13.460 | teaching on First Peter in a look at the book
00:00:16.080 | regional conference at Westside Church.
00:00:19.200 | And it seems like things really went well
00:00:21.900 | while you were at the conference.
00:00:23.160 | And there was a lot going on in the news, certainly.
00:00:26.060 | As you look back on that trip and over what you taught,
00:00:29.880 | do you have any reflection to share with us here
00:00:32.600 | on the Ask Pastor John podcast?
00:00:34.260 | - The earthquake in Nepal happened while I was there,
00:00:40.580 | which for me personally, and I think for others as well,
00:00:46.240 | put the second half of our study,
00:00:49.100 | it happened on, we knew about it
00:00:51.760 | as we began Saturday morning.
00:00:54.580 | It put the second half of our study under a cloud
00:00:58.800 | of very serious reality.
00:01:00.800 | In other words, no game playing here with First Peter,
00:01:04.600 | because First Peter, I had said to them Friday night,
00:01:07.160 | is a book that more than any other book
00:01:10.560 | in the New Testament is pervasive with suffering.
00:01:14.160 | It focuses on, teaches about,
00:01:16.640 | prepares people for suffering.
00:01:19.480 | And so we were talking about some of the most serious
00:01:22.800 | kinds of losses in the world
00:01:25.680 | with this enormous tragedy unfolding,
00:01:29.040 | which as we speak right now,
00:01:31.320 | has about 5,000 people killed, 9,000 injured,
00:01:35.960 | 8 million affected, 1 million children in urgent need.
00:01:39.280 | And of course the ripple effects
00:01:41.720 | from all of those are enormous.
00:01:44.480 | And I think what I want to say, Tony,
00:01:47.800 | in response to that event and that moment in my life
00:01:53.200 | and that seminar, is that there is a kind of sequence
00:01:58.200 | to the responses that Christians should have,
00:02:03.400 | reflective Christians especially.
00:02:06.600 | If we get the sequence wrong,
00:02:09.700 | or the spirit of the sequence wrong,
00:02:12.900 | we may do more damage than good if we open our mouths,
00:02:16.280 | or if we don't open our mouths.
00:02:18.220 | So here's what I mean by the sequence.
00:02:20.160 | Number one, I think the first response we should have
00:02:25.160 | when we hear a news like this earthquake
00:02:29.560 | is a heart that feels empathy or compassion.
00:02:34.560 | In other words, we should use immediately by reflex
00:02:38.560 | our imaginations to imagine that we are trapped
00:02:42.640 | under the rubble and wishing somebody would find us,
00:02:45.320 | or our child is trapped under the rubble
00:02:47.520 | and we're standing outside frantic to find the child.
00:02:52.520 | In other words, use our imaginations
00:02:54.640 | to feel what is being felt,
00:02:57.160 | and then to feel compassion and do neighbor love.
00:03:01.400 | Love your neighbor as you love yourself,
00:03:04.400 | even before your hands can move a muscle.
00:03:06.820 | I think that's the first thing that should happen
00:03:09.040 | and we should repent if it's not happening.
00:03:12.700 | Second, rising up in my heart
00:03:16.680 | should then be after that kind of compassion and empathy,
00:03:21.200 | prayers of desire for the good
00:03:24.800 | of those who've experienced the greatest losses.
00:03:27.200 | We're Christians.
00:03:28.840 | We know that the greatest good anyone could receive
00:03:33.840 | is Jesus Christ.
00:03:35.860 | We know that the greatest need
00:03:38.600 | every human being has is Jesus.
00:03:40.800 | We know that Jesus is overflowing in love
00:03:43.440 | and compassion toward all who call upon him,
00:03:46.720 | and he's ready to forgive their sins and meet their needs,
00:03:50.080 | especially the most painful needs and eternal needs.
00:03:55.080 | And we know, this is what I found out
00:03:58.160 | by just glancing at Twitter feeds,
00:04:00.320 | we know that we will be found fault with
00:04:03.880 | if we pray this way for people.
00:04:06.040 | That is, if we mention Jesus,
00:04:07.900 | or if we hope that somehow people would find Jesus
00:04:13.120 | through this tragedy,
00:04:14.400 | we will be lambasted as exploitive of this moment
00:04:19.400 | and that we're simply doing partisan politics
00:04:23.200 | and utterly insensitive to the people and so on.
00:04:26.020 | But in spite of that kind of criticism,
00:04:29.040 | I am totally convinced we should pray
00:04:33.080 | and pray something like this.
00:04:34.600 | I try to formulate in my mind,
00:04:39.080 | how should I pray?
00:04:41.320 | I try to do this.
00:04:42.160 | Every time a calamity comes along,
00:04:46.360 | so my prayer would go something like this.
00:04:49.080 | Oh God, have mercy on those
00:04:52.360 | who have experienced the greatest losses here.
00:04:55.080 | Have mercy on those who've lost
00:04:57.320 | their most cherished family members,
00:04:59.360 | children who've lost their parents,
00:05:01.000 | wives who've lost their husbands,
00:05:03.360 | thousands who've lost every earthly possession.
00:05:06.040 | Raise up, oh God, every resource
00:05:10.520 | for the supply of the most urgent physical needs
00:05:14.560 | that the Nepalese people have.
00:05:16.200 | And Father, in your great mercy,
00:05:20.040 | grant that your people, Christians,
00:05:23.480 | would be among those who make the greatest sacrifices
00:05:26.600 | to meet the needs.
00:05:28.320 | And would you grant that thousands and thousands of people
00:05:33.200 | would be led through these mercies
00:05:36.680 | to see the merciful hand of God, yourself,
00:05:41.280 | the Father of our Lord Jesus,
00:05:43.480 | and that they would meet Jesus
00:05:45.960 | as their most precious friend
00:05:47.760 | and the savior of their souls,
00:05:50.160 | the one of infinite power, great compassion,
00:05:53.360 | who could give them a future
00:05:55.320 | and a hope for this world and the next.
00:05:57.160 | So I think, Tony, we should pray like that
00:05:59.520 | regardless of what anybody says.
00:06:02.280 | And then thirdly, in this sequence that I have in my mind,
00:06:06.080 | we should, after we've felt and prayed, we should give.
00:06:11.080 | We should go online, find reliable venues
00:06:15.000 | and sources and missions,
00:06:16.400 | and in the name of Jesus, get out our Visa card
00:06:19.800 | and be a part of the rescue operation
00:06:24.240 | and let our hands join our hearts
00:06:27.000 | in the compassion that we began with.
00:06:29.600 | And then the fourth thing in this sequence
00:06:32.360 | is that we should think deeply and biblically
00:06:35.800 | about what in the world is happening in the world.
00:06:40.200 | We may not speak at this point.
00:06:41.680 | We may or we may not.
00:06:44.160 | If the setting seems right, we might,
00:06:45.920 | but if not, we won't.
00:06:47.080 | I just mean our minds should kick into gear
00:06:49.840 | to engage the Bible and refresh our understanding
00:06:53.880 | of what kind of world we live in.
00:06:56.080 | And I think the very first aspect of that
00:07:01.160 | would be to respond to Jesus' words addressed to us
00:07:06.160 | when we take Him, the problem of Nepal
00:07:09.440 | or the Tower of Siloam on which 18 people fell,
00:07:12.840 | to which He responded, "Are those 18 people,
00:07:16.800 | "do you think that they are worse offenders
00:07:19.700 | "than all the others who live in Jerusalem?
00:07:22.140 | "No, I tell you, but unless you repent,
00:07:24.080 | "you will all likewise perish," Luke 13.
00:07:27.720 | In other words, I should hear the Lord God Almighty
00:07:32.480 | address me, me, "Piper, do you think
00:07:37.480 | "that you don't deserve to be under that rubble?"
00:07:40.540 | So get that right in your head.
00:07:44.800 | You deserve to be there, and unless you repent,
00:07:48.920 | you will be there sooner or later.
00:07:52.360 | So it should have a profoundly sobering effect
00:07:57.600 | on me as a Christian.
00:08:00.660 | You know, the article that we put up at Desiring God
00:08:05.960 | about praying for Nepal said that the man
00:08:09.960 | who was in Nepal who wrote it knew of 30 Christians
00:08:13.280 | who had been killed.
00:08:14.640 | So it's Christians and non-Christians
00:08:17.360 | who are swept away in these kinds of calamities.
00:08:20.400 | It's a word for us before it's a word for anybody else.
00:08:24.840 | And the last thing in this sequence,
00:08:28.000 | after we have felt and after we've prayed
00:08:31.600 | and after we've given and after we've thought and repented,
00:08:36.600 | then we might, and here timing really matters
00:08:40.240 | and tone really matters and content really matters,
00:08:42.860 | we might speak a biblical perspective
00:08:46.560 | on why are these calamities in the world?
00:08:51.800 | And that's what I tried to do then, Lord's Day morning.
00:08:55.640 | So after the seminar was over on Friday and Saturday,
00:08:58.000 | I stayed to preach at West Sidon,
00:08:59.840 | and my title was "The Pain of the World
00:09:02.040 | and the Purposes of God," and I did not focus
00:09:05.000 | mainly on Nepal.
00:09:06.360 | Nepal was kind of like a gargantuan backdrop
00:09:10.200 | giving seriousness.
00:09:11.960 | I tried to talk about the suffering
00:09:13.500 | that all of us will necessarily taste
00:09:16.240 | as we walk through a world of futility and corruption
00:09:21.360 | and the situation in the world at the moment
00:09:23.280 | simply provided the kind of seriousness and weight
00:09:26.320 | that made everything feel more,
00:09:28.040 | it was an unusual moment.
00:09:30.000 | That's probably why I felt like addressing this here.
00:09:32.920 | It felt, there was an unusual hush upon the people.
00:09:37.880 | So my prayer right now for those listening to this,
00:09:40.640 | and who knows, between the time we're recording
00:09:43.060 | and the time they listen,
00:09:45.420 | another huge calamity may have happened.
00:09:48.480 | My prayer for this is that people
00:09:51.920 | would have great compassion
00:09:53.440 | and would have great prayerfulness and great generosity
00:09:56.440 | and great biblical thoughtfulness and great wisdom
00:10:00.880 | about what to say and when to say it.
00:10:03.720 | - Yes, amen.
00:10:04.720 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:10:06.200 | And that sermon, "The Pain of the World
00:10:08.640 | and the Purposes of God," was preached in Vancouver
00:10:11.920 | on April 26th, and you can find that sermon,
00:10:14.520 | both video and audio, online at desiringgod.org.
00:10:19.120 | For everything you need to know about this podcast,
00:10:21.680 | go to desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:10:26.240 | Well, does Hebrews chapter six, verses one and two
00:10:30.760 | imply that the gospel is only for beginner Christians?
00:10:35.400 | I'll ask John Piper that tomorrow.
00:10:36.960 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:10:37.920 | Thanks for listening.
00:10:38.960 | (upbeat music)
00:10:41.540 | (upbeat music)
00:10:44.120 | [BLANK_AUDIO]